Student Spotlight

Vincent Laufer

Welcome to the Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology (CMDB) PhD Theme, a part of the Graduate Biomedical Sciences program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. The CMDB theme is designed to provide maximum flexibility that results in students who are prepared to launch into a career in the emerging biomedical science field. Our graduates have exciting careers in scientific research in both academic and industrial settings; scientific-related writing, business, law, bioterrorism, forensics, administration, and education.

About Us: CMDB is a cross-disciplinary theme at a leading research University in the sunny south, consisting of a diverse group of scientists and physicians who have a collective interest in fundamental processes in cell, molecular, and developmental biology and how alterations in these processes result inhuman diseases and birth defects.

About UAB: We are consistently one of the top 25 NIH funded research institutions in the U.S. and with faculty from over 30 departments across campus there are many opportunities for you in new and exciting areas of biomedical research. And, UAB is a leader in innovative technology such as whole genome sequencing, electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, crystallography, flow cytometry, drug discovery and others.

Contact Us: We are always searching for the brightest and most dedicated students to join our highly competitive CMDB theme and experience firsthand our cutting edge science. This is your personal invitation to explore the many possible opportunities offered by CMDB at UAB. Please explore this web site and apply today!

Similar to the ancient Greek legend of the Trojan horse, platelets in a transgenic mouse deliver a life-saving enzyme.In a city of 1 million, about 10 to 15 patients a year will come to the emergency department with indistinct complaints that hide a potentially fatal blood disease.
“They usually come in the middle of the night, and the symptoms can be very nonspecific,” said X. Long Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., professor and division director of Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. “Headache, blurred vision, malaise and abdominal pain. If misdiagnosed, they can die in one to two days.”
This syndrome — acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, or TTP — produces blood clots in small arterioles throughout the body, particularly in the brain, heart, pancreas and kidneys. The most effective treatment thus far is daily plasma exchange, with replacement of all or one and a half...

Researcher’s approach allows the phone’s weakest security component — the user — to become its strongest defender.University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have developed simple but effective techniques to prevent sophisticated malware from secretly attacking smartphones. This new malware defense is being presented at the IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications, or PerCom, today in St. Louis.
As mobile phones increase in functionality, they are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in everyday life. At the same time, these devices also are becoming easy targets for malicious activities.
One of the primary reasons for such malware explosion is user willingness to download applications from untrusted sources that may host apps with hidden malicious codes. Once installed on a smartphone, such malware can exploit it in various ways.
For example, it can access the smartphone’s resources to learn sensitive information about the user, secretly use the camera to spy on the user, make premium-rate phone calls...

Campus enhancements taking shape as construction progresses for new facilities and outdoor spaces.
Two major construction projects at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are nearing completion, giving the campus an updated look for the upcoming fall 2015 semester.
The new residence hall and Hill Student Center will accommodate growing enrollment and the desire to better serve students and the UAB community.
“Tremendous progress has been made on each of these new facilities on campus,” said Carolyn Farley, UAB’s director of Academic and Student Services. “It’s exciting to see the buildings take shape, and to feel the enthusiasm on campus build as we get closer and closer to their completion.”
Layout of a room in the new residence hallThe new Freshman Residence Hall, scheduled to open for the fall 2015 semester, will help meet increased demand for on-campus housing, which has been filled to capacity for the last four years. The proposed plans will...